Last Week in Twin Peaks Podcasts, Week of August 27th to September 3rd

This is a flashback to the last time podcasts didn’t know what was in the finale: the penultimate week of Twin Peaks is finally in this column, Part Sixteen! It’s where we get OUR Dale Cooper back. At long last. There’s a lot of squeeing, and a lot of celebratory language. There are predictions, and there is optimism with a side of trepidation. This is what all the podcasts have been waiting for. Here’s how they deal with it all:

EW’s A Twin Peaks Podcast covered Part Sixteen and also had a pre-finale interview with John Thorne. In their Part Sixteen coverage, things really came together in Las Vegas. Jeff is 100%. Darren IS the FBI. Coop loves honoring those around him, it’s so beautiful. They loved this episode so much with the best juggle of different tones. Asking for the sandwiches was the funniest Cooper moment ever. It felt exactly the same, like a nostalgic rush of time travel. KM’s performance incredible. It was also a monumental Diane episode, with LD giving great performance. All of the key collaborators got to shine, clearly Lynch loves them. Dern talked in her interview this week about Blue Velvet being three crazy kids figuring it out, loved how this was getting the band back together, like Muppet Movie act three. The coordinates are a crazy macguffin, will Mr. C ever get them? Ray, Diane and tea kettle Jeffries gave him coordinates, assuming the two that match are Ray and Jeffries because Diane couldn’t remember the last two. Was Jeffries helping or setting him up? No bonding moment between Mr. C and Richard, just straight to the point. All villains on the show have had their goals stunted by randomness. Uncle Jerry showing up was perfect, and Mr. C just saying “Oh.” “Turns out you’re a very bright boy” was a trolling joke actually. Did he even tell Richard he’s his father in the car? This is reverse-Abraham/Isaac story, where his son is a worthless sacrifice to him. Richard hungered for significance, wanted to be a big bad villain, and the show takes away all of his agency by doing away with him like a chump, same with Duncan Todd, both really lame exits. This speaks to how Lynch/Frost look so lowly upon these characters. Also the downfall of the Horne family, does Jerry know this is his great nephew? Audrey obviously in a strange place too. They did a funny ad for Zip Recruiter, with Bushnell using it to replace Dougy. “: – ) ALL” text made her remember everything, maybe loosened some kind of mind control. Has she been prevented from remembering until now because Mr. C had some mental block on her? Her soliloquy was like the ultimate Lynch/Dern character scene, with all the meta themes reflected. Tammy…kinda ridiculous that she had to state the obvious that she was a Tulpa. Loved Diane’s “fuck you” ending, this gave her some agency back, of which she’d otherwise had taken away. Podcasters debated the timing and the ALL text…was there just one? Was this suicide by cop, where she just wanted out finally? Diane was a meta Lynchian Tulpa because it’s an actor he’s worked with before and all of his characters are doppelgangers of himself, expressing a piece of him. Also, Inland Empire begins with a sexual assault on Laura Dern and ends with a soliloquy by the actress Nae Yuuki, who plays Naido, as one version of Laura Dern dies. Diane is likely Naido, which changes the meaning of the power station scene. Trap? Prison? If so, it speaks to Mr. C’s deep cruelty. So who isn’t a Tulpa? Does Tulpification create some transformation in the original also? “Things really came together in Las Vegas!” they finally got to say. Loved how it all came down to Hutch family being assholes, getting themselves killed randomly. They teased the torture for a long time and didn’t get to do it, evil doesn’t get what it wants. The Mitchum brothers reaction is incredible. Sound in hospital is sound from Great Northern. Coop wakes up and immediately wants to make sure the Jones family is taken care of, asks Mike to build another doppelganger for them. Parade of hugs, so much honor to those characters. Chekhov rules (gun on wall in act one must be fired by act three) are partially kept, only for the good guys. Coop has been awake and experiencing everything, even emotionally, but just couldn’t act on it. How will Janey-E react to the new Dougy that might come back to her? What are we to each other? Is it more important who we are or what we do? Could this replicant that stays with Janey-E be the only Cooper remaining beyond this season? Cooper lines were perfect, he was immediately dialed right in. “I am the FBI” over the theme right where the credits used to run was worth 15.5 hours. The show was not just nostalgia but about what these characters really mean to us. Coop’s driving because he’s regaining his agency over his life. Audrey dance following Cooper return is magic, because last time she did that dance was thinking about Cooper too. It’s not just Audrey returning to us but recreating that moment. Similar to James Hurley’s Just You smash cutting to Diane receiving ALL text, Audrey’s dance smash cuts to the mirror wake up and ends abruptly. If Diane was raped, copied and left in another world, it’s likely something similar for Audrey, like a Tulpification. Last few Audrey episodes are actually similar to Diane’s inner conflict in her final scene. All in all, this and Part 8 are the best, and cannot wait for finale! In their interview with John Thorne, co-founder of Wrapped in Plastic, and Blue Rose Magazine, needs no introduction if you are reading 25YL. If you don’t know who he is, stop what you’re doing and do some googling. Through Dougy, Cooper has become a better person, not just a great character. So now, if he were to go through the Red Room, perhaps he’d succeed. Many of the amazing TP elements actually happened because of necessary off-screen problem solving, like the ad libbing required to solve the murder for the European TV movie version of the pilot, which created the Red Room dream sequence. Now, much of season three seems to be reconciling the resulting inconsistencies, which is fun to watch. Could Laura Palmer be restored, ending the show with a living Laura? 18 hours gave Lynch the ability to take his time with scenes, do it how he wants, at his pace. JT’s main hope is Sarah Palmer and Dale Cooper get some peace. Laura must factor prominently into the final act, but he doubts we’ll get full resolution. He’d be happy to see Coop go back to Vegas to be happy with Janey-E and Sonny Jim. Blue Rose Magazine won’t be able to analyze episodes the same way that WiP did, because this is truly an 18 hour movie, not necessarily unveiled in order, without beginning/middle/end…but read anyway!!! (Sean Glass)

Bickering Peaks think “Wow” is the only thing you can say to Part 16. Fortunately they do continue in more depth. They think the slow build is vindicated in the catharsis of this part, and that it means much more that the viewers had to wait this long to see everything in this part. They’re confused by Mr C saying he is twenty five years older than Richard, and feel that maybe Richard failed a test when he answered the question about the co-ordinates. They talk about the multiple sets of co-ordinates, theorize about Jefferies’ and Albert’s role in this, and wonder about time-delayed text messages. They feel Janey-E mentioning that it is possible to be in a coma for years stands out, and are unsure of the connection between the shots showing equipment in the hospital and the FBI room. They are delighted that the Coop that came back is the bright, chipper, assertive Coop we all know and love, and not the broken shadow that some expected. Onto the Diane scene, what does 🙂 ALL mean? A Manchurian trigger? A coded message? Is Diane hoping to send bad co-ordinates to Mr C when she says “I hope this works”? The mannerisms of Diane remind them of Audrey, in that she doesn’t seem in control most of the time. They’re interested that Diane shows no surprise that she is manufactured. The way she disappears may indicate that she was created by someone else, and her comments about being in the sheriffs station may mean her separated self is Naido (or possibly Chad), which would explain why she helped Coop in the purple world. Lindsay is upset about being horribly wrong about Audrey when it turns out she is in the real world after all, but wait – what’s this? ‘Audrey’s Dance’ starts up, Audrey does her dreamy dance and then it cuts to her staring in a mirror and shakiness and electricity, and then the roadhouse again, but backwards. Lindsay is vindicated! Nothing is real (and nothing to get hung about). Fade to bick… (Matt Armitage)

Boob Tube Buddies began their Part Sixteen coverage by not seeing the point of Richard Horne as a character. They then wonder if he’s dead or transported. The real Diane is assumed in the lodge, Cole knows what’s happening with her somehow, Cooper’s mind and body needed to link together and we get to see Cooper’s been paying attention this whole time. The hosts make a case that Hutch and Chantal may be a metaphor for the middle class white trash America that’s obsessed with consumerism, who are actually banal and think they’re exercising their rights and free but are just low class asshole people. Meaning they’re so entitled they ignore the government whenever they feel like it and an immigrant shows up with a work ethic and pushes them out. The moral of their story may be: you can’t not regard people around you outside your own comfort and think you can survive. Also, Horne’s death is a reversal of the Abraham and Isaac bible story, electricity is the conduit for the spirit world, and Jerry and his binoculars could be a statement of not seeing things the way they are. And there are four Twin Peaks cast members who were later on Dawson’s Creek if anyone needs another fix of, say, Dana Ashbrook.

Bookhouse Podcast began their Part Sixteen coverage by going through their previous predictions, and figure if Kyle MacLachlan and David Lynch don’t get Emmies for their work that award isn’t worth a drop. This episode was full of things the hosts needed, and who knew part of that would be the Mitchum brothers? If Richard Horne is a tulpa, Sonny Jim will be one also. They note how the FBI just lets Hutch and Chantal’s deaths happen, which made for bad agents but the scene is comedy gold. The hosts assumed Diane was going to kill at least one agent, and her black lodge “special effects” were a lot to deal with. They don’t know what to make of Diane saying Sheriff’s station, think Gordon must be able to see things, and they connect Diane to Naido. Richard Horne is gone now and where is Linda? How can all this pay off in two hours? They make a distinction that tulpas are programmable while doppelgangers are not, and that the new Dougie won’t be so bad because he’s made from the good Cooper. They were on board with this Audrey scene, assumed on the first watch she was in a coma and on their second watch that it’s a lodge situation, and wonder if Audrey is a failed tulpa. Red has to reappear, Richard Horne’ll be in the black lodge, Drunk might kill Chad, and there should be a rekindling moment between Bobby and Shelly. They predict a generally happy and fairly closed ending though not perfectly cut and dry.

The Brad Dukes Show covered Part Sixteen with guest Eban Moore. They found this Part’s pacing to have an electric current for once, noticed more birds over Dougie’s house, and assumed Hutch and Chantal would be killed by a fully activated Cooper like with Ike. They call Bushnell the Big Ed of Vegas (which now that they say it I totally see), and they notice immediately that Dale has NOT wasted his last 25 years. They think Coop’s not authoritative, just in control, and he’s going to fix everything that’s seemed like a mess so far. The hosts ask what do the 15 Parts of Dougie symbolize? The ALL text meant kill them all, they wonder where the real Diane is, and assume Dougie was a reverse-engineered tulpa made by Mr. C. A lesson they note is: technology is okay but intuition ALWAYS works. Cooper wouldn’t lie to the Jonses, he WILL be back. More Ben and Jerry scenes would be welcome, and though it’s been the biggest misfire of the season they would like to see a Becky Briggs tie up scene. Despite the parts that don’t work for the hosts, they love the world and understand the Return is an impressive piece of work. Prime example of their issues: Stephen was dealing with things but we don’t know his character to care. They wonder why Audrey rather than Annie (and still think Linda is Annie’s child), though answer it with she is one of the Core Characters. They thought the double twist of Audrey IS then ISN’T in our reality was effective, and they assume she’s lost her mind in that bank explosion. Is she living in her head this whole time? They sum up this section of the return as “this is everyone coming back to themselves.”

Chopping Wood Inside put out three podcasts this week, covering Part Sixteen, a Part Sixteen Deep Dive, and a Parts Seventeen/Eighteen Preview. For Part Sixteen, the fan service is at five million. The hosts assume the coordinates are in Twin Peaks, and Richard Horne’s death reminds them of Windom Earle’s. Janey’s line about “coma for years” probably relates to Audrey, Hutch and Chantal must know more than we think about DoppelCooper (“does he LOOK like our boss?”) but we’ll never know. The hosts thought they were likable people and sad they died. The Mitchum’s white limo signifies they work on the White Lodge side, the Hum sound may be the One Armed Man, and Cooper knows about the seed etc because DoppelCooper knows this information and they’re one and the same. The hosts thought Diane was going to kill Gordon, Gordon’s a strong receiver, and Diane was probably taken to the convenience store after her rape. ALL was a Manchurian Candidate kill them all command, and the coordinates mean Naido (who represents something rather than IS something). The Roadhouse MC makes the whole place seem like part of Audrey’s construct, the double rape trope is noted, and while the hosts notice she has narrative weight (!) they wonder if she’s the dreamer. The FBI might be late but they’re all on their way to Twin Peaks. In the Part Sixteen Deep Dive, the hosts notice the first thing Coop does is give Janey-E and Sonny Jim an insurance policy, or could it be one body will find Laura while he’s fighting DoppelCooper? The “so called black lodge” may not be as evil as we thought, maybe the convenience store is where the evil really is, and is Sarah possessed by the Jumping Man? The hosts are still tracking Dougie’s wedding ring from Briggs’ stomach, and they hope there aren’t four Coopers running around in the lodge. Is it Lucy’s job to decide which Cooper is the real one? (probably not.) They think we’ve seen the last of Judy, and Albert is still complicit. The last episode covers the Part 17/18 Preview: Tom is feeling conflicted over seeing the final two hours, and the Post-Peaks depression, but he doesn’t think it will set in until a week or so later. Murphy wants to just talk to everyone about it. Murphy wants a hotline manned by Peakie podcasters so people can tune in a get their fill 24 hours a day. Theory one from Murphy – The scene where Tammy is missing when Albert and Tammy shoot Diane. Is she a tulpa? Discussing the way she’s been framed in red drapes, and the slow mo before she enters Gordon’s room. What is it foreshadowing? Is she going to end up like the rest of the BRTF? Tom thinks someone is going to end up like Jeffries and Chet Desmond. Murphy thinks that if Tammy ends up in the Black Lodge, Gordon would do after her to save her. Tom wants to see Gordon with his gun once more and wonders whether or not the BRTF will make it to Twin Peaks at all. Will they ever get there? Tom also thinks that the info given to Mullins is going to lead Gordon there. Maybe it has to do with ‘greeting him(Cole) right, Murphy asks. Tom think that Cole’s dream and Diane’s fate seal the deal for BRTF that the Cooper they saw was the Bad Coop. Both agree that all will converge on Twin Peaks. They disagree over where the BRTF will be at the beginning of Part 17. They also disagree over whether it was a good idea on the part of the BRTF to ‘bring Diane into the fold’, or if they’re “keeping their enemies closer”. Did Gordon have a premonition about what was going to happen. Tom thinks that Diane was aiming at Cole, and notes that the text ( = -) All ) sets Diane off and Murphy brings up the timestamp differences, but they come to know real conclusions. This leads back to confusion about the Jeffries/Cooper dialogue and timeline shenanigans. Tom thinks time jumps have to do with editing purposes and Murphy agrees that because of the way things have been edited, it seems off, but would be script accurate – this harkens back to Lynch saying that it might be better to watch the parts in a different order. Tom thinks it’s an artistic choice. Murphy thinks that the smiley face is meant to jog her memory of the night that DoppelCoop/BOB raped Diane. Smiley=Creepy BOB smile. Tom thinks Diane has always been conflicted and that the original Diane is a good person, but the Tulpa is ‘murky’ as to intentions. There’s a mention of the Manchurian Candidate theory again. Tom asks if we’ll see BOB and Murphy hopes so. They talk about did they/didn’t they remove BOB from DoppelCoop in Part 8 and Andy’s visions of the BOB bubble. Tom likes to think he’s still in DoppelCoop. He says that the bubble appearing from out of DoppelCoop is for audience purposes. They agree that none of the spirits (Jumping Man, BOB, etc) can die. Will DoppelCoop die? It all seems too easy to these two, and thinks that there has to be something more. Will they reveal BOB that way, by having DoppelCoop return to MIKE? Tom thinks not quite – he suggests that the location DoppelCoop is looking for is the Jack Rabbit’s Palace vortex and that DoppelCoop/BOB will try to invade that realm. “It’s in our house now,” – refers to BOB/DoppelCoop and that all the Giants clues to Dale. Doesn’t think we’ve met Linda and Richard yet. Tom suggests a fourth season resolution taking place in this other realm/corruption of white lodge. Murphy calls it a Doctor Who esque theory, a Season Four battle of Light and Dark. Murphy asks if the finale will be anything like the season 2 finale and Tom finally brings up Laura. They both agree that Laura has to finally show up. Tom thinks that the ‘new Dougie’ might be actually so that Dale can be two places at one time, maybe sending the new Tulpa to find Laura, because she won’t be anywhere near Twin Peaks. Murphy thinks she’ll have less that three lines, and Tom thinks more than ten. They debate her nature. Did she return to earth? Has she been living like Dougie? Does she have a family like Dale did? Dale will find Laura, they suggest and convince her than she has to go to Twin Peaks. She will do a Dale and eventually recover her memories. They believe that she is integral and that the hub of the ‘main event’ is the #6 pole, the Palmer House and the Sheriff’s Dept. Also believe we’ll see Leland. Murphy thinks that Coop will go into the lodge and to the ‘Phillip Gerard” to Laura, reversing his dynamic with her. He doesn’t think that Laura can have a rational conversation with Dale because it wouldn’t fit the feel otherwise. They believe we’ll get scenes in the Lodge, revelations regarding Gerard, Jeffries and others. What’s Gerard been up to when we don’t see him? Tom thinks he’s directly involved with the DoppelCoop storyline – the man behind the scenes. Murphy wonders if we’ll see Andy in the lodge? And if we’ll have any resolution on Becky? They still think that she’s dead. They agree Steven killed himself and suggest that if she’s not dead already, Bobby and Shelly’s reaction to whatever is up with her will bring them back together again. Murphy doesn’t think it will happen. Tom still doesn’t get the Steven/Gersten discussion in the woods. Is the woods influencing them? Murphy wonders if Gersten saw a portal. Tom wonders why Gersten. He wants some resolution – wonders at a disconnect between how happy-go-lucky Doc Hayward and his drugged up daughter. They wonder where Donna and Harry are (Burning Man, they say, definitely). And Eileen Hayward? They’re very concerned with the Hayward family and it reminds them that Doc Hayward “saw” Bob. Tom brings up the Dreamer and ‘living’ in the dream – thinks of the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois. Murphy makes the connection to Inland Empire again. He wonders whether the finale will be in anyways similar. Tom thinks it was more collaborative between Frost and Lynch, but agrees that the end will be ambiguous. It won’t be a Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart. Murphy wonders if we’ll get another “How’s Annie?” ending, and if Cooper will end up back in the lodge. Will it be an Empire Strikes Back? Will Lynch go crazy or give some fanservice? Tom thinks the conclusion will be satisfying. He feels that even if there is a season 4, this story is concluding. He thinks that finality doesn’t mean that there will be no mystery. Tom thinks that it won’t be a lost highway. Murphy wonders what Cooper will have to do. Will he save Audrey? Will he continue to just help people? Murphy suggests jokingly that he might time travel back in time to fix season three. Tom reminds up that Dale’s very presence makes people’s lives better (re Vegas). He wonders if this is the result of Dale having to deal with 25 years of his failure to meet the Lodge with true courage. He thinks Dale will have the same effect on Twin Peaks. They don’t think Dale (if he lives) will stay in Twin Peaks – they think he’ll return to the FBI. Murphy thinks that making the tulpa might have been a mistake, or unwise. Has Dale learned his lesson? Tom reminds him that Dale slipped up with saying goodbye to Janey-E and Sonny Jim, and that’s what the tulpa is for. Murphy doesn’t think it would be a good idea to have someone with identical fingerprints running around and wonders how Janey-E will deal with it. Tom doesn’t think Dale ever intended to go back, but thinks that Dale is genuinely grateful all the same. Dale’s purpose in life now transcends the real world and his sacrifice is being unable to live in the real world. Will Jerry be important? Has he been touched by the Lodge?, Murphy asks. Tom notes that Ben is never seen outside the office. They want Jerry to meet back up with Ben and tell him all about his ‘trip’. Tom connects Jerry back to Steven and Gersten – what’s up with the woods? Does Jerry know anything about what’s going on? Maybe Doctor Amp is giving people enlightenment and truth? What’s up with Naido? Who wants to kill her, Tom asks and Murphy wants to know why Naido warned Dale against the portal? They think Naido is good ultimately and that she was keeping him from another trap. Murphy suggests that Naido is connected to Diane. She’s either her own character, or she’s Judy or Laura according to Tom. They consider that Dale might have to find Diane, but that we won’t see her again. Murphy wonders if Naido will ever speak normally. Murphy wants to see the Monkey. Tom suggests that the end of Twin Peaks might have an epilogue al la Inland Empire, with a Juliee Cruise song to lead us out, with some favourite characters in booths at the Roadhouse, but that maybe there will be something else after that’s mysterious They speculate that Part 8 is self contained and the much of it is Lynch’s nostalgia for both the fifties and possibly old girlfriends. Also that it is a commentary on the corruption of our society. Craziest theory they pose – Audrey is trapped in Johnny’s teddybear. Or, Richard Horne mysteriously got it in the mail as a kid (cringe!) They think that Briggs set the trap at the rock, that Jeffries’ coordinates are the real ones and we have yet to see ‘the place’, but it will be on 10/2 at 2:53. They anticipate The Fireman appearing again here and hope for Senorita Dido to have a return and a greater role in some sort of resolution. If there’s a surprise cameo, Tom think it’ll be Michael Ontkean, and Murphy agrees. They also suggest Josie or Annie. They agree that Annie is still a possibility as she is connected to Dale’s failure and Norma’s comment about her family. They still like Harry as the most likely candidate, suggesting that as they keep referencing him, it would make sense. No matter what, both agree that it is going to be a spectacular, special, abstract convergence. Twin Peaks, they agree, is eternal. (Eileen Mykkels)

The Damn Fine Podcast crew were joined by guest Garrett Weinzierl, who just recently binged the original run of Twin Peaks and is as mesmerized by The Return as hosts Ron Richards and Tom Merrit. Tom congratulates himself in guessing (correctly) that Cooper would make a full comeback in Part 16.They talk about all the threads that are coming together and tying the story, including minor plot points such as Jerry Horne’s journey in the woods. Gordon Cole’s machinery in the Buckhorn HQ/hotel room strikes them as visual rhyme to the hospital room in which Dougie is. The hosts and guest declare themselves as Mitchum brothers fans, as everybody who witnessed their hearts of gold is inclined to be. As soon as Cooper finally wakes up in full Special Agent mode, Kyle Maclachlan’s performance informs that he hasn’t lost any of the magic that made us all fall in love with the character, they say while stating the he should be nominated and win every possible award there is. They note that, while nobody is weirded out by the new and improved Dougie, the characters seem to notice that something is different about him. The theme song being played while Cooper leaves to hospital left them speechless, and they point out that the music is only stopped when Diane receives Mr. C’s text. Ron says that her disappearance right after being shot is very similar to the first blue rose case. They discuss her conflicted memories and how could she remember so much while being manufactured by Mr. C and if she could actually be Naido. If so, why is her appearance so different? Audrey’s dance was the moment that caught them off guard, and they wonder if Charlie could be the one responsible for her situation (which they also don’t know exactly what is). (Maicon Firmiano)

Dark Mood Woods covered Part Sixteen with guest Nate Fisher. The hosts note that fan service is successfully served AND turned on its head with this Part. The show is both self aware and wearing it on its sleeve. The Richard Horne death scene is jarring but it’s sort of serving as the villain gets his due. They note how in the Return, every citizen (Bushnell, the accountant) seems to have a firearm, and Diane’s is paired with Hitchcockian suspense and a fair dose of Inland Empire. Something unseen has been used to get the now-awake Cooper up to date, and it’s odd but it works well. The hosts predict Good Cooper will die and live on as Dougie tulpa. The Eddie Vedder song folds our world into the show world, same with Audrey’s Dance being specifically said within the Roadhouse. Is Audrey in a liminal purgatory? There may be a fight out of a subterranean prison and she’ll come out of it. That blatantly metatextual ending seems reasonable to the hosts and almost desired. They found the slot machine backdrop an interesting choice for an otherwise Spielbergian heartstring-pulling family scene. They guess that the real Diane is probably trapped inside Naido. The hosts expect a cathartic experience in the finale, do not expect to have more Twin Peaks after this, assume it’ll end with upsetting cliffhanger moments, and have enough optimism and confidence that things will make enough sense to stick the landing.

Diane feel like something was fixed inside them in Part 16 that had been broken for a very long time. It was bittersweet though, as they think it spells the end for the characters in Vegas and Buckhorn. There is some surprise that Richard’s story was ended so soon, but love for Jerry and his wanderings and wrong binoculars. Rosie expounds the horrors of a full stop at the end of text messages, perhaps explaining Diane’s extreme reaction. They wonder what Gordon is tuned into, point out the complicated fractured nature of the Diane tulpa compared to the others we have seen previously, and suspect she may be Naido but are enjoying how open to interpretation her character has been and still is. The random violence that results in Hutch and Chantal’s death via the accountant reminds them of the comic ‘Stray Bullets’, and they also wonder if a hit was taken out by the brotherhood of evil accountants. They are blown away by the return of Cooper, relieved that it actually happened, and delight in the absolute Coop-ness in Kyle’s delivery of the awakened agent. They like Eddie Vedder’s acoustic earnestness, and don’t think things are as simple as everything being Audrey’s dream. They wonder if Audrey’s story becoming more prominent going into the finale may indicate some Cooper and Audrey action in the finale. All they are sure about and desire is that the finale will blow their heads up in a beautiful way. (Matt Armitage)

Dishin’ The Percolator started their coverage of Part Sixteen by talking about what you say to the people who try Twin Peaks and don’t like it (because they get Twin Peaks really isn’t for everybody) and they settle on talking about the cool music. But for these guys there was a TON to love, and Sean says he mostly made animal noises with his arms in the air. Dale drove the car, had respect for everyone around him, the show was well paced, and the hosts just enjoyed it. They keep expecting “Bob’s in there” with SOMEthing somewhere. They ask if tulpas remember their previous lives, if Dougie is the good manufactured part of Mr. C, and if Gerard made the other tulpas too. They also ask how much of the Roadhouse has been Audrey having a dream? Watching her dance and then that white room reveal was almost as exciting as when Cooper woke up. Dallas loved this episode too as it felt current but had that fan quality of Twin Peaks too. The z in Polish Accountant’s name is a tip-off it’s not just random intervention? They assume Richard Horne is dead and that Ray and Jeffries were the same given coordinates. Kyle MacLachlan is one HELL of an actor. They ask if this episode made all the waiting for Cooper worth it, if Annie could be involved/is the dreamer, and they could do with Josie in the Great Northern. Not to mention Ontkean. They also wonder if the timeline seriously only covers five days. There was so much joyful ribbing in this episode I couldn’t help but feel great. This was a good one.

Drink Full and Descend began their coverage of Part Sixteen by thinking Jerry Horne’s presence signifies nearness to Twin Peaks. Also, he’s high AND something else. Is Richard Horne being recreated/transported when exploded with the electricity, or is this what it looks like and is a trap for Mr. C? Are the FBI machines that sound like flatlining capturing Richard’s death? Hutch and Chantal share more Tarantino references before becoming the Bonnie and Clyde reference, and yes, armed americans plus stress equals this stuff. The hum from the Great Northern takes Bushnell out of Dougie’s room so he could wake up. Want and need is an ethical issue for Cooper and so his code of honor has him make sure Janey-E and Sonny Jim do NOT lose their Dougie. The hosts note that people are now repeating what Cooper is saying rather than the reverse we’re used to. Humor and poignancy are all over this, Cooper’s RETURNED. The ALL text meant either kill them all, or tell them everything. The hosts talk about the time stamps on the texts that are a giant jumble. It’s probably just a production issue but possibly signifier of a time/space fracture. Definite signs of multidimensionalism. Do DoppelCooper’s texts operate outside of time or are time-traveling? Diane is likely a double-agent, working against two sides of the same person (meaning good Coop and DoppelCooper both). The hosts loved the Hitchcockian gun tension builder, and maybe Gordon HEARS her arrive? Diane places herself at the convenience store as well as the sheriff’s station, leading the hosts to wonder if Naido is speaking through her. There are echoes here to the Lois Duffey case, and Diane speaks forward when she’s inside the lodge. The hosts wonder how much Diane is tulpa Diane, and they note the good Dougie tendencies from Cooper rather than DoppelCooper influence. They are thrilled Audrey made it out of that house, notice Eddie Vedder’s use of his real name, and after the effective twist (and the backwards song) link the Roadhouse to the Black Lodge. Did Mr. C trap Audrey there? The hosts also explore Audrey’s similarities to Norma Desmond and Sunset Boulevard.

Endgame Podcasts covered Part Sixteen by starting into a discussion of time wonkiness that may or may not be happening in The Return. Their sound quality is off this week but the content is still solid. The FBI machines are in sync with CooperDougie’s heart monitors, not on purpose but on theme. Is the Polish Accountant from the black lodge? Vibe says yes but probability says no. The hosts think Phillip Gerard is trying to maintain order by reclaiming DoppelCooper, and they nod to themselves for predicting a while ago that Cooper would return in Part Sixteen. They discuss the permutations of how Cooper or his tulpa could go back to the Joneses, and possibly Sonny Jim’s strong reaction to Cooper is him realizing he’s just gotten a much cooler dad. The hosts think The Return is going to stick the landing, which they describe as decades in the making, executed perfectly, and way more perfect than a dragon knocking down a wall. The ALL text unlocks Diane’s memories, and may mean kill them all. The hosts think DoppelCooper ate Diane’s garmonbozia fear that night, and they talk their way through tulpas as being distinct from doppelgangers. They suspect Dale has the exact power set of DoppelCooper, and they don’t think the important part is about defeating DoppelCooper, rather it’s Bob and where Bob is now. They suspect the Bookhouse Boys will go into the convenience store to end the evil forces before this is all over.

This episode of Fire Talk With Me covers part 16. They start the recap with the opening scene and walk through Mr. C and Richard’s travel to the coordinates. Allie is excited that she called Jerry’s appearance, and Jeremy marvels at Jerry’s surprisingly capable lung capacity. Allie notes that the hospital scene is very Wizard of Oz, and both hosts note the multiple mentions of electricity in the hospital where Cooper is recovering from a coma. Both hosts are ecstatic to have Cooper back, but Allie is particularly pleased. They note the unusual smiley face choice by Mr. C in his text to Diane. When Diane confesses to Cole and company and says that she is in the sheriff’s station Jeremy surmises that she is referring to Naido. Allie share a dad-joke-worthy meme about Albert shooting Diane and both hosts wonder about tulpa mechanics. For the final scene Jeremy let’s Allie take over to describe the awesomeness of Audrey’s dance. Allie guesses the opening scene of part 17 will be Buenos Aires or the glass box from part 1 and Jeremy picks the sheriff’s station. (Kimberly Shotick)

Formica Table covered Parts Fifteen and Sixteen in separate podcasts. The hosts think we were kept guessing on Ed and Nadine’s status so it wouldn’t establish the finish line, the Otis Redding song was so on the nose the scene HAD to get turned on its nose, and the scene blocking has Ed invoking something before his happy ending. THE convenience store’s upstairs turns out to be metaphorical, and the hosts talk about the ghost ship Flying Dutchman of the same name with its ghost crew. Magical locations of similar stature are discussed, the Fire Walk With Me motel location is noted, and maybe Room #8 is a portal like pole #6. Jeffries is near another Eraserhead style radiator, the different “David Bowie” voice was distracting, and the hosts get the impression the Lynch/Frost dynamic works like this: “Lynch says oh I can start this mystery and this mystery, and Frost is running behind him tying them each up in a little bow” (Lynch has the artistic impulses and Frost codifies them). But they Bring up Mulholland Drive and tell how Lynch also codifies his work more than you’d think. The actors in the Gersten/Stephen scene do great work with the material but the material itself is not ideal. The ZZ Top song is Lynch playfully trolling, the hosts expected more from Mister Todd, and it was a nice touch Chantal called out the bringer of war. About the Log Lady, the line between Margartet and Catherine Coulson was so close it became meaningless. Audrey being in a limboland is validated as no one but Richard Horne’s ever mentioned her, and the hosts predict rather well how we’ll get Cooper Back. And in their Episode Sixteen coverage, the hosts split up reactions as one didn’t like it, one fell in the middle, and one loved it. Richard Horne’s method of death was approved, they’re all agnostic about Jerry, and they talk about the disappointment level around the epidemic of losing new characters before they’re developed. Is Bob being used as leverage for DoppelCooper to stay in the world safely while staying off the Fireman’s radar? One host HATES the Mitchums, the others love them. Hutch and Chantal talking about Sammy could’ve given them a life outside of junk food and their jobs but no, we can’t have that for our characters and they go nowhere, another loose end tied off by being killed randomly. The seed will either be Cooper’s body double or a new Dougie. They wonder if the problem is that Cooper came back to the world in the Dougie Jones plot strand and tonally it doesn’t fit. Laura Dern’s a barnstormer in her scenes despite her dialog being on the nose (it insulted the hosts that we were told what we already knew), but Dern’s performance is brilliant. They have no idea what the intention is supposed to be for Tammy, talk about the special effects of Diane turning into a seed, and wonder why Janey-E likes Dougie, anyway? They thought Audrey was in the world after all, then admitted the fake out and think now she’s in something lodge-related. Despite too many characters being whacked to clear the board before they’ve served a purpose, the hosts are optimistic about the last two parts.

Mork and Bubba from The Gifted and the Damned podcast began their coverage of part 16 debating whether or not they liked the resolution to Cooper’s long awaited comeback. They celebrate Richard Horne’s final moments and are relieved that he went away thanks to Mr. C. His text to Diane could have various meanings according to them, and they discuss if she was created by him to take the FBI team down. Mork points out the similarities between the shot in Dougie hospital room and the one in season 2 right after Cooper being shot, which also ties into Cole’s brief scene surrounded by FBI gear, something that could indicate that he knows more than he is letting on. Bubba feels frustrated by Chantal and Hutch’s entire arc and demise. They wonder if the humming in the hospital and in the Great Northern will ever be explained. MIKE maybe is also watching this season, he says the line that the hosts most identified with (Finally!). To them, Cooper was actually getting comfortable with his life as Dougie, but hearing Gordon Cole’s name was what made him snap back to reality. Mork tries to argue that Cooper came back at exactly the right time and with the right attitude, all-knowing and with a mission, while Bubba strongly disagrees. They notice that Cooper does take the ring (don’t take the ring Laura!) but doesn’t put it in his finger. They also notice that the song playing in Diane’s march to the FBI room is the same one from Mr. C’s introduction in part 1. Laura Dern’s brave performance is highly praised by them, stating that she pulled off one of the most tense moments from The Return. When Diane is at the Red Room, they make note to the fact that she’s not wearing the Owl Cave unlike the previous tulpa sent there (the original Dougie Jones). Cooper’s lack of a reaction to the coffee he sips in the Mitchum bro’s limo is appalling to them. They react to Audrey’s return to the Roadhouse, and say that the moment the floor cleared was when they were sure she was in some alternate context, maybe a dream, and that the mirror displayed in the white room she suddenly appears in could be the key to understanding her situation. Some plot points did not get resolution until part 16, and they debate whether the show will tie everything up and what could be answered in the upcoming The Final Dossier. (Maicon Firmiano)

How’s Annie began their coverage of Parts Sixteen by saying Richard Horne failed DoppelCooper’s test (while his plotline went nowhere), and does ALL mean DoppelCooper wants All the coordinates from Diane, or is it a code or trigger? The Mitchums’ flower arangement is basically a diorama, Hutch and Chantal’s deaths are married in farce, and the hosts bear heavy emotion for the remaining Jones family when Cooper will inevitably leave. The second Coop opened his eyes the hosts KNEW it was him. Janey accepts this Coop immediately for some reason, and Cooper with all his lodge knowledge will be unstoppable. Everything will be okay. “I am the FBI” is cheesy yet perfect, Diane is either brainwashed or a tulpa, and the hosts think she saw Bob in DoppelCooper. The Mitchums and the girls probably won’t enter Twin Peaks city limits, and Audrey exists! (oh wait she doesn’t.) The hosts find an Annie / owl ring / Audrey connection, however loose. Cooper needs to get Audrey out of there. Memory issues are important and plentiful and they figure it’s why Ben doesn’t mention his own daughter. The hosts make predictions and wonder if someone makes Laura with a seed.

I’m Worried About Coop began their Part Sixteen by thinking the Return will all end in a fun way for us to watch. They successfully predicted Chantal and Hutch only had a family pack of Cheetos in their van, and they wonder initially if the Polish Accountant was hired by Duncan Todd but instead decide it’s the universe conspiring to help CooperDougie. The hosts have a strong reaction to Richard Horne being officially a product of rape, and they wonder if the Roadhouse is ALL in Audrey’s head. They’re so glad the Mitchums are going to Twin Peaks with Coop, declare this season is NOT a letdown, and ask, why NOT more Twin Peaks movies when this wraps up? Thanks to the hosts for a shout-out as well…wish I could be more timely but that’s real life stepping in. Glad you folks get it. The hosts ran a little light on scene-by-scene breakdown this week but as this week was mostly about emotional reactions I think it’s well in keeping with the mood. They went with telling us what they feel about the stuff they remembered, and it was an entertaining podcast.

Laura Palmer Is Dead began their coverage of Part Sixteen by pointing out the physicality of Richard Horne: he’s a still actor, doesn’t move his arms much, and it’s very much exactly the physicality DoppelCooper brings to the screen. The hosts think Jerry Horne’s binoculars is a statement of how we are looking at the big picture, that the beeping at the FBI room is monitoring Cooper waking up through Dougie, and that the Z in the Polish Accountant’s name may be a tell he’s lodge affiliated like Szimon’s Coffee Shop. ALL is a trigger command, and it’s a new notion to the hosts that tulpas are different than doppelgangers. Naido is also Diane somehow, Audrey and Cooper are both Sleeping Beauty, and Audrey’s red clothes are old school Audrey rather than the earth tones in the wardrobe of the Roadhouse Hipsters. As she and Charlie are also the same short height, they visually do not fit into the Roadhouse picture. When Dancing, Fenn is not imitating her younger self, feels beautiful, and is all Audrey. Compared to how everyone predicted Audrey the most likely to succeed, the hosts note her severely reduced circumstances and note the Eddie Vedder song is all about her. They go into the lyrics a ton.

The Lodgers are joined for their Part 16 discussion by Miriam Bale who is a little disappointed after growing to love the dream logic of previous parts that everyone is waking up. Miriam talks about the way The Return is paced like an eighteen hour movie, which is clearly something that that has troubled some viewers watching week by week, expecting more traditional episodic packaging. They touch on the great Lynchian special effects in the Richard and Mr C scene at the start of the episode, delight in Mr C’s mild disappointment at Richard’s demise and wonder if he is gone for good or may end up in the lodge. They point out that The Return has a much clearer narrative structure than the original series, but we’re not sure yet what the question is that the narrative is answering. They think the tulpas seem somehow incomplete and flawed, and talk about the moral ambiguity of Cooper and his decisions in this episode, particularly regarding creating a new tulpa for Janey-E and Sonny Jim, and being friendly with those jolly murderers, the Mitchum brothers. They love the intensity of the scene with Diane in the FBI office, and wonder where the tulpa begins and the real Diane ends. They discuss the way Lynch has presented the sexual violence, the disassociation of rape victims, and the disbelief that they can face. They observe that many directors would have used a flashback, whereas Lynch uses Dern’s intensity, his own reactions as Cole and the dialogue to bring all these points forward. Are we witnessing a fight for control in Diane in this scene, and is Naido the real Diane? The Hutch and Chantal scene feels like parody to them, with the extreme over-the-top cartoonish violence. They see connections between the Mitchums blaming electricity for Dougie’s coma, then the cut to Cole amidst all his strange machines, and then to Dougie in the hospital surrounded by machines and monitors. Audrey’s dance seems like the first time The Return has so directly referenced the original show in a self-reflexive, almost fan-service way, and the hosts were initially disappointed in the scene because of this, but changed their minds on reflection and rewatching. They’re not sure where Audrey’s dream ends, and think this may be deliberately referencing the blurred lines between dreams and reality. Miriam however, postulates that all the roadhouse scenes have been part of Audrey’s ‘dream’, and that Audrey may be the Laura of this season but we just didn’t realize it. They discuss the Wizard of Oz connections, and think we’ll never know which part is the dream (Oz) and which is reality, a deliberate vagueness that is a particular trope of Lynch and one that he returns to time and time again in his work. In their finale thoughts, they wonder what Laura’s role will be and how she will prove to be ‘the one’, what the hell the frogbug is and what it’s importance was, and who Cooper will end up with, if anyone. Finally, they’re really excited that Candie is going to Twin Peaks and look forward to seeing her interact with the inhabitants, and would love to see her get together with Wally. (Matt Armitage)

Peaked’s coverage of Part Sixteen started with the hosts going through their old predictions and they’re starting to check some off. They’re excited Cooper’s back, and they enjoyed (in a tongue in cheek way) that Richard Horne gets validation from dad about being “a bright young man.” They also noted Janey’s line about people staying in comas for years as Lynch and Frost’s last bit of having fun with the audience over the Cooper delay. MIKE was the audience surrogate saying “finally”, and maybe the tulpa from the seed will join the DBI while Cooper decides to stay in Vegas. The main Twin Peaks Theme used in the show means “We’re back!” With the ALL text did DoppelCooper cause his sleeper agent to wake up? The following Hitchcock scene was effective and Dern was at her best. Cooper smiling at her had to be Bob face, and then the convenience store where he left Diane. But the lodge tulpa special effects are BAD. Friendship is the key that helped Cooper transition between lodge and waking, and the new Dougie coming from Cooper should make him a much improved Dougie. The hosts still love Candie. They call Audrey’s turn season defining, sad they don’t care as much about Audrey right now. Though it doesn’t fix earlier episodes, excitement is present and accounted for before the finale. The hosts wanted more DoppelCooper/Richard Horne dialog first but for his death to mean nothing is fitting for that ass. They make a few predictions: All the roadhouse kids can show up in the lodge, Julee Cruise will be the last Roadhouse song, Judy is probably Diane (or her spirit’s trapped inside), and they think the conclusion will satisfy.

Peaks TV covered Parts Fifteen and Sixteen in a single podcast. Tea kettle Jeffries is ominous, Sarah COULD be on Jumping Man’s mask, and the hosts love Chantal and Hutch as they’re violent and hilarious, but also troubling. Who knew Gordon’s name was the trigger for Cooper? And this is the beauty of delayed gratification, same on the mundane level with the soap opera of Ed and Norma. The hosts hated the Stephen stuff: it’s frenetic, over the top and not sympathetic because he’s not a well rounded character. Margaret is so powerful…this dealing with mortality is so powerful. If the Audrey scenes are unreal, does that make earlier scenes better? Answer: trust Lynch. Does the Roadhouse exist in the real world and multiple realities? Part Fifteen checked a lot of boxes of what the hosts wanted in a Twin Peaks episode and it turns out it was just an appetizer for Part Sixteen (though it had two troublesome reveals of rape as plot points despite Dern’s amazing performance). The hosts are really happy for Cooper but then saddened by what that means for the Joneses. The Coop seed will be turned into a Dougie replacement? Tears were shed when the theme music swelled. Naido could be real Diane or Judy, there’s probably no statement with the Hutchens, and the reality of the Roadhouse is broken. The hosts hope we’ll see mature depiction of abuse but not yet, though based on the Fire Walk With Me treatment of Laura the hosts think this will happen yet. They admire the eventish feeling of the Return.

The Sparkwood and 21 Podcast corrected a correction to a previous episode before declaring part 16 one of the best pieces of TV to ever happen. They feel bad for those who have dropped off and didn’t get the glory of being rewarded for waiting. After recapping the opening father-son scene they wonder what Jerry is actually able to see through his backwards binoculars but are glad, for his sake, that he was seeing from a distance. They aptly note that Jerry’s placement in this scene does the work of showing us that Mr. C and Richard were close to Twin Peaks. One host says he was so excited when Cooper woke up from his coma: “I think I bruised the air with my fists.” They speculate that Cooper may have left the jade ring under a pillow for Gordon Cole. They joke how funny it would be if Wilson absentmindedly puts the ring on. One host thinks Cooper is making a tupla as a decoy so that Mr. C will kill the tulpa instead of him and that he wants to return to Janey-E and Sonny Jim and run the Las Vegas FBI (where Wilson works). Another speculates that James will die as fan service in the finale. They comment on the return of that slowed down Muddy Magnolias song during Diane’s determined walk, a host thinking it was the Melvins when she first heard it. They explore possibilities about Diane’s comment that she is in the sheriff’s station. They note that fans come up with wild theories but The Return is more straightforward than the fan theories tend to be. They wax philosophical about Eddie Vedder’s lyrics in the Roadhouse, and comment on Audrey’s “meta” dance. They suggest that Audrey could be a tulpa and that there is a possible connection with Beverly, who has the same necklace as Audrey. Finally, they hypothesize that the coordinates could be the Great Northern, where Ben Horne is hearing the humming tone. Their listener feedback podcast covers feedback for part 15. The hosts talk about how Jeffries is steam powered, making him non-electric and possibly of neither lodge. They say they’d love a Jefferies prequel. A caller discusses Cole’s namesake, from Sunset Boulevard. Callers were excited by Frost’s cameo, Dougie’s electric shock, and Ed and Norma’s moment and were saddened by Catherine Coulson’s goodbye. Target’s self checkout told one listener to “call for help,” reminding her of the beloved Dougie. One caller questions Andy’s Rolex and Bora Bora trip–could he be the millionaire? Just a sign things are off? The giant is hooking them up? Margret’s gold log could represent petrified wood–echoing the fear theme in Twin Peaks lore. Mr. C doesn’t intimidate them when being shook in the car while driving. The convenience store was fanservice and it was cool. One caller wonders if fans will sour on The Return after its initial (fan) praise, ala the Starwars prequels. The aesthetic of David Lynch is discussed–the odd effects are extensions of his art and are “moving paintings.” Where did Audrey get a picture of Cooper? How long has Sarah been lodge-connected? They bring up her creepy voice in the diner during the last episode of season two as potential evidence that she is frog-bug girl. (Kimberly Shotick) And In their Part Sixteen Listener feedback episode, they cover a number of insightful-as-usual topics that listeners write in about: If Richard Horne is now Non-Existent does that undo things? Is Tammy a tulpa? Is Mr. C. pretending on purpose that he’s 50? Nostalgia can be seen as a trap but also becomes awesome when we get our Cooper back. Did Phyllis Hastings’ status as probable tulpa working for DoppelCooper seal the deal on Bill Hastings’ death?

There Will Be Drinking Recaps Twin Peaks began their coverage of Part Sixteen by being okay with Richard Horne’s death (or wherever his body got transported to) because he deserved it, and they note DoppelCooper noticed that fate was meant for him. Could his ALL text been to more than one person, with explicit purpose to cause chaos? The hosts LOVE the Mitchums after CooperDougie has successfully changed their ways. They wonder if the Polish Accountant was actually hired by Mr. Todd to kill the Hutches, and they missed Coop SO MUCH. They love that Cooper thought of the Jones’ right away and think he’ll go back to Las Vegas to teach the new tulpa how to Dougie. And they did not want to have to leave the bliss to talk about the dark part with Diane. Cole “knows” she’s there, maybe because they were monitoring Diane’s texts. The scene was hard to watch but had the right level of intensity. Diane is Naido? Sure, I guess? ALL was a trigger, probably to kill them all, and the bad lodge effects worked effectively for the mood. As the pink girls seem like they’re in their 30s and the Mitchums are in their 50s, the age difference actually doesn’t creep out the hosts. Are the people from the Roadhouse scenes all in rehab? Has the place ever been real? It could be a shared dream, or Audrey overhearing all the people around her who are also in sparkle rehab. Hutch and Bushnell are their favorite side characters, Sarah should be back next episode, and this week Donna is on a lifestyle trip with Gwyneth where they bump into Cooper who inspires that Dougie luck and Donna decides to become an accountant.

Time For Cherry Pie and Coffee (a subheading of Time For Cakes and Ales) covered Part Sixteen took advantage of the Sky early release in the UK and patted everyone on the back for keeping any spoilers to themselves (and I second that). Also “I am the FBI” should be the answer to any direct question all week long. They call out Richard Horne and DoppelCooper’s ride as the weirdest road trip ever, say if Jerry therefore near Twin Peaks, and about Dougie they note everyone says electricity rather than electrocuted. The hosts figure Cole is also a strong sender, love the rich backstories on every single character, enjoy unexpected Polish accountants, and decide the Hum is probably Laura. They expected to see Cooper damaged in some way rather than the one who came out whole here. They notice how Cooper’s been gaining knowledge inside the lodge the whole time when he asks about the seed, they ask if Audrey’s inside the white lodge, and note how the Ray death scene introduced the mechanism to get DoppelCooper back into the lodge. Cooper WAS a flawed person and they think that should be elaborated on when we see what happens when the doppelganger goes back in. Did Cooper and DoppelCooper evolve into different entities? Tammy’s excited by the proof of tulpas, the hosts missed the possibility of a DoppelDiane angle, and they make a distinction between doppelganger and tulpa. The text message to Diane is the last cruel thing DoppelCooper can do to Diane: make her remember everything. The Mitchums are criminals but Cooper is more thankful for the short term help to focus on their history. This goes along with his pro-Bookhouse-style vigilantism stance. Will they and the girls be in the RR before the end? They mention Eddie Vedder playing a song as his birth name and mention the song lyrics a bit, and they think the owl cave tattoo is a real thing on Audrey but not her having the owl ring on her middle finger. The mention of Barney in the roadhouse fight might link to the guy Hank the janitor called in Part One? Did DoppelCooper stash Audrey away in some in-between place like he likely did Diane? Was Audrey abducted like in Secret History? The hosts go into the gigantic list of open questions such as whether Janey really is Diane’s half-sister. They think the FBI will contact Cole about the note left with Mullins at the hospital, that Richard Horne is dead AND in the lodge, New York may come back and Tracy’s reasons may be revealed, and light could be shed on Cooper’s time in Rio, though most likely the tangential stuff could easily never show up again. Gerard’s ring plan doesn’t always sync up with the alternate Roadhouse world situation. Becks and Eeson invited Peaks Freak Seth Mnookin on for Another Slice of Pie (which ended up being a whole pie, as they joked in their ep, which runs just under two-and-a-half hours in length but which is worth every minute.) After a general discussion about where their lives will go now that the season is nearing an end, they talk about what an achievement it’s been so far, even without the finale. Seth wondered aloud if the success of The Return had to do with the fact that it wasn’t tied to one location any longer. The wait for Cooper was also something brought up, naturally, as this is less than a week after his awakening in Part 16; the feeling of relief and joy we all had when he woke up only pays off if it happens after hours and hours, and wouldn’t have happened if we saw Coop in Part 2. A very apt observation. Returning to OG Twin Peaks is going to be tough after this, they all agree, because they’re such different entities. Becks was interested in seeing if any die-hard fans would come up with a fanedit (possibly location based?) but it was generally agreed that that would be next to impossible to do. From there, the trio delved into some deep discussions about the nature of Chekhov’s gun in The Return, issues of agency and responsibility, and the representation of women. On the final point, this wasn’t a standard dissection of the ways in which Lynch is misogynist, but a rather refreshing take that dovetailed nicely into the conversation about agency. Janey-E and Tammy are both treated like children, as is Doris Truman, while the men around them get to possess and withhold information at will. What does that say? It’s something to think about. Any discussion heading into the finale will inevitably turn towards mysteries left unsolved and predictions for the future, and here Becks, Eeson, and Seth do not disappoint. Among the many questions they would like to see answered are those surrounding Sarah and Becky, Red, and Sparkle, the drug that’s being shipped down from Canada. Will we see the insurance agent from Part 1? What about Harry? They also finish off with some damn fine questions about Mr. C’s motives for returning to Twin Peaks, what happens when doppelgangers return to the Lodge (if they can return at all) and who was the imposter Jeffries, including an interesting tangent that maybe MIKE the inhabiting spirit might be inhabiting Albert or Gordon. Best predictions? That Coop won’t survive as Cooper on earth at least, that Cooper will absolutely catch up with Harry in the end, and that maybe this being a dream wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world… . In the end, it’s generally agreed by all that approaching The Return as a new fan, without having had the experience of the Season 2 finale being the end of the line for so many years, you will lack the ability to appreciate the enormity of Cooper’s return, and what this all means. Fundamentally, everything about the world of Twin Peaks, including its real world fandom, changed on May 21, and that’s a bittersweet thing to chew on.

Afterbuzz’s Twin Peaks After Show began their coverage of Part Sixteen wondering if Richard Horn may have been transported away, but don’t expect him back in the last two parts to find out. The hosts don’t trust the One Armed Man, only the Giant. If Coop stays on Earth they think he’ll go back to Janey-E and Sonny Jim, and they were impressed Cooper came back voice and all. They thought Diane went to kill Gordon, that the sheriffs department line connects her to Naido, and with her awkward special effects gold ball scene they wonder if they’ll see Diane for real. The backwards credits music makes the hosts feel Audrey’s been captured by otherworldly (likely lodge) forces, and because she knows what’s going on in the real world while no one mentions her at all, the hosts think Audrey will be key in all of this.

Twin Peaks Peeks covered Part Sixteen with guests Jess Lane and Brendon James. He’s interested but mostly left cold after each part and she’s on board and enthusiastic. They start by going over the recipe for a Black Yukon Sucker Punch before Brendon explains that this is not the same show as the original. It’s not about Bob OR Laura and that’s something he can’t ever get over. The Polish Accountant felt like a twist of fate and divine intervention. Everyone is MIKE: “finally” which is a Frost-ish noticeable meta commentary? They expect the seed will turn into a new Dougie. They talk a lot about Magritte’s This Is Not A Pipe painting and compare it to how Lynch works, whereas they go on a tear saying the more spelled-out things (and the things Brandon doesn’t like) get credited exclusively to Frost, and it isn’t like this show to pile on like that but here it is all the same. The hosts are so happy the Mitchums and girls are coming to Twin Peaks, and they talk dynamics between Richard Horne (who we’ll never see on this plane again) and DoppelCooper. They thought Diane was going to kill Gordon for sure, and assumed Diane was created “that night” and didn’t know she was a tulpa. They’re sad because Diane doesn’t actually have agency after all. Is the Roadhouse the first DoppelPlace? The scenes in Vegas and Buckhorn have primed us with scattered fragments of where the finale will go just like Season Two surprised but left signposts that it’d go to the dream room. They talk through Audrey being in a lodge space, coma, or mental institution, and settle on the third option. They make educated guesses about the final: there’ll be scenes between Becky/Shelly/Bobby, Laura/Bob, Audrey with Cooper, a jail scene, Ben/Beverly, and if Sarah’s not in it there won’t be a frog girl return. Oh, and Linda will be in there somewhere.

The Twin Peaks Podcast put out Part Fifteen and Part Sixteen coverage this week in two separate podcasts. Part Fifteen was with guest Graeme (who has two four year olds like me so I like him already). Ed, Nadine and Norma are not at all established in this series and you need to rely entirely on what you know from before to get something big out of their story. It’s a nostalgia thing only, and Ed and Norma felt like they were acting untrue as if they were waiting so WE could see it happen too. It was great but felt exclusively like fan service. The hosts liked how the convenience store was like going through a maze, and they wonder if Jeffries’ bell and teapot is keeping him alive like a Vader suit. They only find actual intrigue in what’s going on with Jeffries and Briggs (who could be Judy). They ponder what would have happened if it was Wally Brando rather than Richard Horne who tried to get the drop on DoppelCooper, and that Linda could be Annie’s hospital baby. The “she” in the Gersten/Stephen scene is most likely Becky, and they wonder if Stephen’s trying to be grosser than Richard. Chuck was a name from Audrey’s talks with Charlie, Freddy is crazy for not using his other hand when he fights those guys (he’s basically a murderer), and the hosts all talk glowingly about Sunset Boulevard. What if Dougie gets institutionalized after his fork trick and Coop gets zapped into him there? They all thought Margaret’s sendoff was beautiful though they discuss the editing decisions that makes Hawk look like Michael Horse didn’t necessarily know what he was listening to when filming. They bring up Scott Ryan’s point that No Stars should’ve played right then and the episode would end. Brad talks about Lynch’s aesthetic in that it’s devalued if you try to break it down into a puzzle, that it loses focus if you analyze it so much, which is an astute thing from the guy who goes off on other fans who “think everything Lynch does is perfect and you just don’t understand” every few minutes. He also wishes he cared or was invested in any of the characters or plots but he just isn’t. In Part Sixteen, they have on guest Ian, who hated The Return for a while but it’s getting good at the end per usual. The hosts think the actually-good coordinates go to the sheriff’s department, and that Richard Horne is a wasted useless character who went nowhere. They take an aside to complain about Lynch woman characters, and note how the deaths this episode are missing fanfare and feel rushed. Coop coming back inspired anger in them that it’s too little too late. The new Dougie seed will be good for the Jones’ because it’s made from the good Cooper this time. And after being so slow with everything, now every scene feels rushed. Why didn’t the show hold the Twin Peaks Theme until Dale GETS to Twin Peaks? That Diane scene is really effective and the hosts figure tulpas have programming AND original memories. They notice how Tammy goes missing in one shot in the Diane standoff, say how the bad effects around Diane becoming a seed are supposed to be that way to be off-putting, and they didn’t find the final goodbye to the Jones’ convincing. Mel is sick of the Roadhouse scenes because it reminds her of all the things she doesn’t like about the Return. The Audrey scene is pretty on the nose fan servicy, but it felt true for the first time. Does it excuse the earlier scenes? (they don’t think so) Brad likes this less and less since Part Eight, and there is SO much mocking of other fans who DO like the Return, as if anyone who does like it can’t possibly be right. My mantra is “the only wrong way to think about Twin Peaks is to say you have the ONLY right answer” and they’re dangerously close to that edge. It makes me sad how little fun they’re having but please don’t take it out on folks who genuinely find things to like in the Return. Because it’s there for people to find too.

Twin Peaks The Return covered Part Sixteen with guest Bismuth Hoban. Richard Horne seems dead though anticlimactically, and he’s possibly been sent somewhere else. Diane probably gave the good coordinates, and DoppelCooper created Richard Horne just as he did a tulpa just different by method. They thought Coop was going to spend the whole episode in that hospital bed, and the hosts note the family/community he created around him in Vegas. Hutch and Chantal going out Bonnie and Clyde style leaves DoppelCooper with no one. Except maybe Red. MIKE says “finally” for us, and Cooper’s been paying attention, just couldn’t get to the controls. When Coop’s awake you just fall in, and Naomi Watts does a great job showing Janey-E processing the situation on the fly. Laura Dern acted the hell out of her scenes, and the double reveal of rapes means the hosts needed to talk about Lynch and rape. Rape as a plot device needs to be balanced precisely…Fire Walk With Me gave Laura some of her agency back, but the so-far-uneasy presentation here has not been further nuanced. Looks like Audrey will get her story back but if Diane’s is over it ended like a rock in a lake. Some tulpas seem to know they’re tulpas while others don’t, the pro-Tammy hosts notice she reacts to things rather than is overwhelmed, and Coop classily kneels to include Sonny Jim in his goodbye conversation. The hosts guess that Audrey may have been in the world a while investigating the mysteries on her own and gotten herself trapped where she is, taking on the mysteries herself like she did going to One Eyed Jack’s. White void has only been seen in Laura’s head thus far so maybe Laura’s keeping her safe? Theoryfish asks if Audrey has a dissociative identity (not likely), if the whole of Twin Peaks is a tulpa that might just disappear (seems more like a staging ground than a metaphor) and the think our own Laura is Cooper’s Mom article is plausible but nowhere near probable as a direction Lynch and Frost will go.

Twin Peaks Revival covered Part Sixteen with Brian and his guest host Mitch. They continue to have valid criticism of the narrative elements that are dropped or passed over regularly, and they think having more heads in the room (meaning other directors and writers) could’ve helped the show be easier to embrace like the first two seasons. They question if Lynch and Frost ran out of ideas and could’ve made a great story with less episodes. They ask if Andy is going to be revealed as a tulpa and wonder who else could go this way. Mitch felt the feels when Cooper woke up but Brian didn’t due to it happening too late in the game. The ALL text was a trigger to make Diane go away, the Hitch and Chantal deaths by way of the Accountant was a good misdirect, and they wonder if Coop made the new tulpa to go fight or to live in Vegas. They were able to see the overcommanding downside of Cooper’s personality on display, they want to see a scene between Bushnell and Gordon, and the bad Diane special effects took them out of the lodge scene. They note how the stereotypes of the casino owner and insurance guy is turned on it’s ears with Bushnell and the Mitchums and this is a good thing. They also note how no characters are mentioning the Bookhouse Boys at all…it’s like they’ve gone away and there’s no one to fight the darkness so it’s invaded the whole town. Before, there would never have been a time a bullet goes through the safe spot known as the RR Diner.

Twin Peaks Rewatch’s ecstatic recap covered Part 16 this week. There is a lot of discussion about what a tupla is opposed to a doppleganger, though no definitive conclusion is reached. They find bad Cooper’s “goodbye my son” to be meme-like and are not happy that bad Cooper was, in fact, the father of Richard Horne. They muse on the idea that “bad” characters are always separate beings, which let’s the original character off the hook for the bad actions of the other. The hosts spend some time discussing David Lynch’s effect aesthetic, which is sometimes cheesy and sometimes note–but all are purposeful decisions by Lynch. They delight in the ridiculous amount of equipment Cole stares at bewilderingly in the hotel room where Laura Dern give an amazing performance as an emotionally charged Diane tulpa. When discussing Cooper’s hospital scenes, they point out that the nurse is played by the same actress as the Great Northern employee who is excited about M.T. Wentz’s arrival in the original Twin Peaks. They describe the Polish accountant shoot out as Lynch meets Tarantino meet Coen Brothers. Next week we will get a good Cooper coffee experience. Audrey’s dance was the most shocking moment of part 16 for the hosts because it breaks the fourth wall. Things in the Roadhouse are definitely off. (Kimberly Shotick)

Twin Peaks Unwrapped covered Part 16. No Knock, No Doorbell. This was the episode of major, major moments. Ben called the Cooper wake up (weeks ago) but it happened finally! Finally!!! 2 hours left. Running out of time. Richard and Mr. C. (hoping for father and son hijinks!) So this scene he has three coordinates, and two are the same. What would you do? You are a BRIGHT young man….he really does turn into one. So Mr. C sets Richard up. Mr. C says he’s old, so you sonny, Richard, you go up there on the rock. We see Jerry come out of the woods, Bryon said that Jerry would see something happen (eventually). Binoculars, cannot see that it’s his nephew. Richard turns into a firecracker. Do we assume that Richard is going to the Black Lodge? Is it possible he was manufactured? Ben says he was manufactured by Audrey and Mr. C. Speculating that Mr. C & Audrey maybe manufactured a kid, not sexually but with hair from both. Question: Richard /Linda, two birds, one stone. Does Linda need to go to the stone to be killed? Will Richard be back? Still questioning that Richard maybe manufactured. More supernatural, definitely different. Goodbye my son. Confirmed the Mr. C is Richard’s father. Mr. C is an awful person, and Ben thinks Mr. C is capable of rape, Byron still thinks Richard was actually manufactured somehow. Diane finally got the text from Mr. C. It didn’t go through, but Diane gets it at 4:30. Bryon thinks the coordinates are Sarah Palmer’s house. Ben thinks the coordinates are the sheriff’s station. Hutch & Chantel, the “Quentin Tarantino” characters. They are waiting in a van outside the Joneses house. FBI shows up. Wilson needs to take a car and stake out the house. Mitchum Brothers show up as well, to stock the house. The Polish Accountant shows up, and tells them to move. Fighting and swearing commence. Well the P.A. tells them, okay I’ll move your car and starts to push at the van. But this guy seemed like he was there for a reason, whether to stake out the Joneses as well, or Mr. Todd’s clean up guy. So Chantel and Hutch get themselves killed by the Accountant. In a very funny, accidental way. Maybe Mike put this guy in place, to take care of things. Great standoff. Love the Mitchum Brothers watching this, and Rodney’s line, “People are stressed, Bradley.” The hardened gangsters with the heart of gold. When they first go to the hospital, the guys both thought, “Are you kidding me? “ They thought Cooper would be there for a while. But thankful that it wasn’t the case. Because Dougie is a good person, now they can help Cooper since he was so good to them. “I am the FBI!” Everyone was repeating this line. Kyle’s performance is amazing. He is Cooper. Jumped up and screamed, “Finally!!!” Mike and Cooper’s conversation. He knew all the information while he was Dougie. He figured out the only way to wake up was to zap himself. The seed from Dougie, the golden ball, Cooper gives his hair to make them another one. So he can give Janey-E and Sonny Jim, their Dougie back. Love Cooper taking control, and driving. The family gets to the casino, and he says good bye. Ben & Bryon both think maybe this is Cooper saying good bye to them and to us. They think Cooper may die. (I think you’re really wrong, fellas. Cooper can’t die. Cooper is forever.) Yes, it is a hero’s journey, but maybe Cooper will survive. It could be foreshadowing, but we never know. Ultimate good vs. ultimate bad. Mitchum Brothers, gassing up the plane. We need a Mitchum Brothers spin off series, we didn’t like them at first, but now we love them. Dale Dougie changed so many people. Maybe it’s a statement, if we give all of each other love, things will be good and you’ll gain friendship and more. Mr. C. is a one man army now, and now we have Cooper with a whole army. So maybe the scales are tipped to the good. Yes, we have the experiment/Mother but it’s really tipped to the good. Diane’s scene. She was working with Mr. C. Think she gave Mr. C the actual coordinates. She gets the happy face emoji all, and this sets her off. A clue to tell her what to do. They play the American Women again, as she walks upstairs. They thought she was going to kill everyone before talking. She tells her sad sorry, and she explains how after kissing him (after not seeing him) he wasn’t him. And then she says she was raped, and then he takes her to the gas station (convenience store). Mr. C. just wanted information about the FBI for her. Albert and Tammy get the drop on her before she shows the gun she has, and when shot flies away. So she ends up in the Red Room and we get one more “Fuck You” which was great. Diane double has all the memories, and she is conflicted, so do tulpas remember more. She also says she’s at the sheriff’s station, so is Diane – Naido? Diane being manufactured, and turns also into a seed. Question about Diane: Kind of relived we didn’t meet the real Diane, so is the real Diane alive? Or was she killed? Tammy says she’s a Tulpa. So Tammy, Gordon, and Albert know they need to get to the bottom of this. FBI needs to get to Twin Peaks. Ending scene: We go to the Roadhouse. They introduce Eddie Vedder by his real name. Which is just weird, because what is going to unfold later on. Out of Sand, the guys loved the song. When you first listen, what’s the song about? But knowing the context, and Eddie writing this just for Twin Peaks, it goes perfectly into what’s going on in Twin Peaks. Both of the guys were like, “Finally!,” when Audrey made it to the Roadhouse. Questioning where is Audrey’s storyline going? When Audrey’s Dance gets announced and then the crowd moves out of the way, something weird and strange is happening. This scene definitely played back as nostalgia. Bryon feels awkward about the whole scene. It just felt weird. 25 years ago, it was cute with the dance and the coffee. But now, this was really odd and strange, and awkward. But then when we see her run back to Charlie, and she wakes up in a White Room, and looking in the mirror, is she in a nuthouse. Ben’s glad she’s not really with Charlie. So the question is: What Roadhouse scenes were real and which ones aren’t? What if: The Roadhouse this entire time was just the thoughts in Audrey’s head? What if Audrey is the Dreamer? Ben wants Audrey and Cooper to connect in some way in the finale. Even if it’s just a look. But they want to get to the bottom of the connection between Audrey and the Roadhouse scenes. What a great episode! Of course, they hoped to get to the Cooper stuff sooner. They think they could’ve gotten Cooper back two episodes sooner. Questions that need to be answered by the finale: Bryon: Will we see Red again? Thought he’d have a bigger role. (Byron thinks their setting up a S4 will all these characters that haven’t been returned too). Ben: Will Bobby & Shelley get back together again? It may be if they have to face Red. Maybe if Bobby arrests Red, she’s see Bobby in a “savior” light. Shelley was moved by Norma & Ed. Bryron: Who is Judy? Final episode may give us the answer. Cooper has met Judy before. Torn: Major Briggs, Naido, Diane or Laura Palmer? Hopefully we’ll find out. Still torn about Laura. She could be, since she’s everything, but… Ben: Who is Agent Jeffries (the person pretending to be)? Albert? Sarah Palmer? Mike? Is Mike playing both sides? But he’s been doing well, but he really wants Bob back in the Lodge. Bryon: We will see or hear what happened to the real Diane? (Hope that Cooper talks to Diane again through his tape recorder). Ben: What was the purpose of the glass box? (Byron thinks it was go summon Cooper to capture him so Mr. C can stay in the real world). Mr. C. may’ve wanted Mother to come out and to capture true evil. Byron: Will we learn of Harry Truman’s fate? Will we see him? Ben thinks we need a surprise, seeing someone either Michael or Heather Graham. Thinks we get good news for Harry. He won’t die. Maybe are we going to have a Margaret funeral? (No, it’s not going to be Cooper’s funeral, you guys! Cooper is going to live forever!!! Remember Laura say him old and grey!) Byron: Was Richard made to be disposable? Mr. C. grabbed Audrey’s DNA and it allows Mr. C. to use Richard to do bad things. He wasn’t made to do anything good. Speculation that Audrey did the same thing that the women did in Sucker Punch. Wondering if Audrey has been doing the same thing, and know wants to get out of her own head. What a long strange trip it’s been! Hopefully we’ll love this and we’ll have 25 more years to discuss what happened during the Return. Community Feedback: People can get pregnant while in a coma. Feedback from the FB and YouTube community. A.V. said on YouTube: Her Gramma was a reg. nurse. Tell her about a female patient who fell down the stairs, but a year after falling into a coma, her belly was swollen and she was pregnant. Which means a staff member or someone impregnated her. So it can happen. Joel Bocko, Lost in the Movies, Special Guest: Exciting that Twin Peaks is almost to fruition, but this time it’s less sad. Binge watched the original, this show is a real thing so it was great to watch it unfold. Twin Peaks will end on Sunday. But it’s made Joel realize how much he’s having the whole experience and engage with the show that way. Next 6-9 months, he’ll have more Twin Peaks stuff to discuss. We’re not waiting for 1 more piece, so much is going to be packed into the end of this show. The last two hours are going to be chock full. What are they going to wrap up? But it’s going to be fast paced. Joel has been posting his blog within a few hours, straight from watching to transcribe on Lost in the Movies. Joel mentioned Mulholland Drive and how that was supposed to be an Audrey spinoff. What happened to Audrey we truly don’t know. But she is definitely not in reality, either a hospital or another dream realm. Joel thinks that only her scenes are in her head, or the Roadhouse scenes are in her head. But it’s not all Audrey’s dream. She’s more important than people expected, but she is not the dreamer. Joel thinks the dreamer is either Cooper, Laura, or Sarah Palmer. This show is not afraid to be on the nose sometimes, so other patients maybe some of the voice and conversations at the Roadhouse. Joel thinks that there is no twist for Candie. Joel thinking we’re going to find out more about the glass box, we’ll find out who the billionaire is (Mr. C?) Joel feels they’re trying to make a distinction between Tulpa and Doppelgänger. Diane was definitely a Tulpa, and not a doppelgänger. Very disturbing but powerful moment for Diane, the way something feels so wrong and devastating but turns it into part of the story and the trauma from before to strength to fight back and then end with her going to the Red Room because she was manufactured. Mr. C. just making a copy of himself, Dougie wouldn’t be as aware of memories. After Part 16 that Cooper out in the world (the awaking of himself) is the full Cooper and Mr. C is the shadow. But where does that leave us if Good Cooper defeats Mr. C. instead of combining selves and becoming one again. Joel suspects some sort of Lynchian twist, that it’ll pull back and change everything we’ve seen. Joel thinks if that happens involving Cooper. Joel final thoughts: Suspect if they pull the rug out from under us. 50/50 that some stuff will be resolved. But he’d be disappointed if they go right straight forward. Joel wants the finale to change our whole perspective of it, but it is okay if it doesn’t. Joel thinks they may be going for something a little more in a straight line. It’s not going to be like the ending of season 2, it may be happy. But maybe Cooper will be sacrificed, or he creates the version of himself (the tulpa) and that one goes to the FBI, and Cooper goes back to Janey-E and Sonny Jim. Maybe Richard will come back, Joel thinks it was anticlimactic. Joel thinks it didn’t feel like a conclusion. He also wants to know what happened to Steven and Becky. Maybe she’s dead, maybe she’s alive. And Joel also thinks there is something up with Red. He seems like a figure that needs to be put down. Can’t wait for the finale. Thanks to Joel for his insight into 16. Joel would like to see pull a “Mulholland Drive” and Laura wakes up and is Judy (maybe). Twin Peaks is doing unexpected things, but not the shocking stuff we’ve suspected. The viewers have some greater imaginations than what they’re giving us. And that’s a great part of the fun! (J.C. Hotchkiss)

We’re Not Gonna Talk About Judy (a subheading of the Another Kind of Distance podcast) began their coverage of Part Sixteen with the idea that Charlie is the string puller with Audrey because that’s the most pressing issue for one of the hosts, and they double back to the beginning. The hosts think DoppelCooper suspected a trap and used Richard Horne to test that validity, and would’ve used anyone for the same purpose if Horne wasn’t there. As there’s no body, Horne can be brought back in the future. They also assume the good coordinates came from Diane. They assume Bob will be back sometime soon, and find it ridiculous Cooper’s back exactly as we remember him but the execution works. Is the Polish Accountant connected to the Polish shenanigans of Inland Empire? The Mitchums and girls are an embracing by the show of silliness. The Cooper wake up went almost exactly as someone would expect and it also seems to understand the complications of Cooper replacing Dougie. The ALL text seems to activate her to kill all FBI as well as send coordinates. Dern is all Inland Empire with pure science fiction, and seems to be fighting mind control. The trauma is keeping some part of Diane here. (The hosts reveal they’re listening to Bickering Peaks around here, by the way.) Tammy is the new James the fandom loves to hate, and there’s no significance to Brad’s bloody mary. You can’t ever be who you were again is the message from the Audrey scenes. Is the Roadhouse bar fight the same exact one every night just with different people? Does Audrey have agoraphobia? Coma is reasonable but probably not that simple. The hosts are ready to find out, and they’ll probably be impressed by the “answers.”

Who Killed Laura Podcast began their Part Sixteen coverage with a question of DoppelCooper being 25 when Richard Horne was born…was it an odd turn of phrase or did it mean the doppelganger was older than Dale’s appearance in the lodge? The hosts note how there’s no arc for Richard Horne, that he never had a chance being a product of evil, and he’s just a pawn. No one has any idea who Judy is, and they wonder what the FBI is monitoring with all that equipment. They think it’s Diane, from the fact Cole’s not surprised by her appearance. Randomness, illustrated this time with the Polish Accountant, is a feature in the Return, and the Hum signifies influence from beyond. Earthly Delights Cooper is back and able to act on everything he’s been taking in this season, and Diane is triggered to remember things (definitely a victim of programming as well) though the hosts think it could be she woke up because Cooper just woke up. Diane swept out of the scene was reminiscent of something they couldn’t remember (that would be Lodge Laura being swept away in Part Two), and Diane is connected to either Drunk or Naido at the Sheriff’s department. Cooper’s goodness gets everyone better than when he found them, Charlie’s spell is being broken by Audrey as well, and they think the real Diane’s in another place. The hosts have optimism. They’re not sure of all the choices made thus far but overall are happy with how things in the Return are going.

Wrapped in Podcast covered Part 16. Kyle King is 100%. Ken thinks he’s doing well, he’s at the sheriff’s station, he’s at the sheriff’s station. Jeff has had a lot to do lately, been so sleepy, but finally made it to the roadhouse and had a martini, feels much better. Vindicated that the logo is meaningful yet again. This time there’s a blue sky background, which has lots of significance for the episode to come. Inside the circle is a green flash. In beginning of episode, another Lost Highway, with Richard giving “furtive looks” as if unfortunately thinking there’s a chance he’ll get the upper hand on Mr. C. This pairing “is like the pairing of banal stupid 2017 evil vs. real ancient otherworldly shit or Richard Spencer tagging along with Rasputin.” Mr. C is such a “creature of the night,” will we see him in daylight in 17/18? Last week started with overwhelming positivity, and this week flipped. Funny thinking if they were in the car for many hours driving with no music, nothing but the “inky blackness of his soul.” We didn’t know he was definitely in Washington until Jerry came out of the woods. Richard burning from the bottom up made them think he’s becoming microwave garmonbozia. Will we find the coordinates or will they remain a macguffin? In Blue Velvet, Dern says all the evil of the world will be pushed out when thousands of robins appear. They think the robin birds are coming, foreshadowed around the Hutchins. Was this a direct reference by Lynch to Roth’s and Lee’s 90s character tropes? Bad drivers all meet awful ends in TP. The ringing brings Bushnell out of the room, and the most wonderful moment of the series. They’re happy to have waited, as part two wouldn’t have had us appreciate this beautiful payoff. One disagrees, and wanted fewer Jacques Tati Dougy scenes, more hours of Cooper. No Knock, No Doorbell plays out with Cole knowing Diane is outside, same to Mr. C entering her apartment in the story. Could the face that appeared to Diane be BOB taking over Mr. C and committing the rape? Subtitles have Diane saying “I’m at the sheriff’s station,” but Cole reacts confused, but why would this confuse him? They think she really says “I am the sheriff’s station,” which is indeed confusing. Is it possible the reason the sisters are estranged is because Diane Tulpa ID’d Dougy as a Tulpa? Why did they deputize Diane? Guessing it’s to keep enemies even closer, or make sure she got the coordinates. Lots of potential significance to the scarab at the casino, but it faded into blue, which should be positive foreshadowing. Anyone looking at a mirror in TP is immediate cause for concern, so we don’t know what’s real here. They think Audrey is in the Mauve Zone, and she’s the mother banging at the door, perhaps chasing after the Cooper whom she thinks raped her. Lenny Kravitz’ “American Woman” music video starred Heather Graham, who might have played Tulpa Annie. They gave an in depth background of Chopped and Screwed music and culture, a form of early 2000s Hip Hop started by DJ Screw, pitched and slowed down bass-y Houston Hip Hop, which had an unofficial drink/drug of choice–Purple Drank–that provided hypnotic highs. They think this is a major influence on DL, seen easily in the Muddy Magnolias remix. (Sean Glass)